False Flag
by mandy58
Summary: Auggie figured out the person behind the leak, now he has to work with Arthur to get him.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: This is my first fan fiction in nearly 10 years I wrote about a dozen back in the heyday of Charmed. I'm really rusty and not nearly as talented as everyone who publishes here, but I just felt this was a story that was crying to be told. It might be, but we'll have to wait until next July. Please let me know if it's worth continuing. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters of Covert Affairs; I'm simply borrowing them for this story.

* * *

Auggie couldn't believe what he'd just heard. He'd almost forgotten about that tiny listening device he and Stu had planted in the foot of the duffle bag. How long ago had it been? A month, maybe three weeks. It seemed like a lifetime ago. The device was set to automatic recording on his hard drive and he hadn't even bothered to listen to it. Until now. He wasn't prepared for what was on that recording, but why was he surprised, he would know that voice anywhere.

"Auggie…" a voice at the door stopped his train of thought.

"Yeah, Stu." He responded putting down his headphones and looked in Stu's direction.

"Joan just stopped me, she wanted to know if you've gotten any more from Miami."

"Yeah, no…." Auggie was distracted; the information he just received was going to take priority over Joan's Miami thing. " Would you do me a favor, and tell her I'll have an update this afternoon. I have something I have to take care of right away."

"Sure thing, but you know how patient she can be." Stu sighed; he didn't really want to tell his boss's boss that he didn't have anything for her right now.

"She'll understand. Tell her to trust me." Auggie replied reaching in his drawer for a flash drive. If one really great thing had come from working with Joan for the last 10 years, it was that they trusted each other. Trust was a very rare thing in the CIA. Today he had to pull the trust card.

"Will do." Stu answered. "Anything I can help you with?"

" I wish…" Auggie sighed, "but no."

Stu knocked on the door jam, his signal to Auggie that he'd left the office and headed to Joan's office, he was in no hurry. That was for sure.

Once Auggie was reasonably sure he was alone, he put his headphones back on and listened to the recording again. It was there. All of it. He put the flash drive in the port and made a copy of the recording. He picked up the phone and dialed an extension.

"Hey Julie, it's Auggie down in the DPD….do you think that you can get a half hour for me with him. It's really important…." He reached for his watch, checking the time. " That will be perfect. Thanks Jules." With that he hung up the phone. One hour. It was going to be an eternity.

* * *

She got out of the back seat of the dark gray Town Car and began to walk toward her townhouse. He was so arrogant, but he was such a great source of information, she might win that Pulitzer after all. As she climbed the steps leading to the townhouse she wondered if it was all worth it, at this point she wasn't sure who was using whom anymore.

* * *

Jai hated Miami, with a passion. He couldn't put his finger on the exact reason. He should love it, miles of sand and beach and miles of beautiful women in very little clothing. He sat at the café drinking something that made him look like a tourist. Why did all tourists have to order icky, sweet drinks? What's wrong with a beer? Or Jack Daniels?

"Jai, they're headed your way." The voice in his ear bud informed him.

"What am I looking for?"

"Mr. & Mrs. Bingo. You can't miss them."

"What are you talking about…." Jai was irritated; this wasn't the time for guessing games. Then he spotted them. A 60ish couple, dressed like they'd just stepped out of the Miami Vice time machine. "Never mind…got 'em" he dropped a five on the table and got up to follow the Bingos.

* * *

" I can't believe it….I just can't believe it. Wait, I can believe it. I should be yelling at you for another unsanctioned op. But you were smarter than me. Don't tell anyone I said that. I just can't believe it. After all this time it was so simple, a damned bug. Auggie you're a genius. Did I already tell you that? I knew he was out for my job, the old fart just didn't know that his time was up. He's been sabotaging me every chance he could. A consultant, my ass." Arthur paced back and forth in his office. Auggie had tried to follow his voice for the first five minutes, but now he was somewhere between tired and downright dizzy from the constant motion and ranting of the DCS.

" I know I should have told you, but…." Auggie finally tried to get a word in.

"Yes, you should have told me. But if you had told me I might have gotten my hopes up, I might have told you no, but I wouldn't have told you no. Would I? "

"but, all the stuff with Annie and Ben. The fallout over the article, it just slipped my mind." Auggie finished.

"Hell, I don't know what to think anymore…." Arthur continued, not even hearing what Auggie had just said. "We might have stopped that damned article instead of delaying it 72 hours….never mind the damage is done… The son of a …"

"He is and we both agree on that point. You know he's not my favorite person."

Arthur finally stopped pacing and returned to his usual calm self, sitting across from Auggie at the conference table. The two of them both had reasons to hate the voice on the recording. "Now, we have to figure out how to nail this bastard to the proverbial wall."

"I have an idea…" Auggie replied, happy that Arthur had finally calmed down so he could share his plans.

* * *

Part 2 coming soon...


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm going to keep this one going. I almost forgot how much fun these things were to write. As promised: here's Part 2.

* * *

Dodging people right and left, Jai continued down the crowded Miami street. He was trying to keep his eyes on Mr. and Mrs. Bingo. Drew was right; they looked like they just stepped out of a bingo parlor in downtown Miami. Giving the subjects a name always gave surveillance a little levity. It would be funny if it weren't so downright serious.

"Excuse me, do you know where Bayside Marketplace is…" a random tourist in shorts, sneakers and socks asked Jai.

"No, I don't" Jai tried not to be rude, but he couldn't loose the Bingos. This is the closest they've been to breaking the case in 5 years. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted them going into a Starbucks and he walked in behind them. Mr. Bingo was at the counter ordering, Mrs. Bingo was way too interested in the napkin holder on the table she was sitting at. Jai settled in to watch.

* * *

Annie walked down the cold marble hallway of the CIA. She found herself realizing things that she'd never noticed before. The place was cold and foreboding. Was it supposed to be that way, a psych out to anyone who didn't belong? She had been back at work for nearly two weeks, but she still felt like everyone was staring at her everywhere she went. She sighed and pushed open the glass doors of the DPD. Her first stop was always Auggie's office. These days it was even more important to see him in the morning, he always felt better after a few minutes with him. She poked her head inside and found Stu.

"Stu, hi…." She trailed off.

"I know, where's Auggie?" Stu looked up from the computer monitor.

"Is he here today?"

"Yeah, he's here alright. He's just up with the DCS."

"What's that about?" Annie was concerned, Auggie usually avoided going upstairs whenever possible.

"Wish I knew." Stu answered and went back to his work. " I'll tell him you stopped by."

"Thanks…" Annie answered and headed to her desk, it felt like every eye in the bullpen was on her.

* * *

Joan entered her husband's office and found Auggie at the conference table and Arthur behind his desk. They both raised their heads, anxiously awaiting her arrival. Instead of greeting her husband, she walked over to her tech op. "So this is what 'trust me' means today? What is going on?" She looked down at him and he responded to her voice by raising his gaze to hers as she joined Auggie at the table. Even though his boss was also his friend, she still could make him nervous.

Arthur stood up from his desk and sat at the table with them. "Play it again Sam."

Auggie reached for the digital recorder and hit the play button. The voice on the recording filled the room as Joan's mouth opened in sheer disbelief.

"Oh, it gets better…" Arthur told her as it continued to play.

Joan stared at her husband and looked to Auggie and back to her husband, still not believing what she was hearing. "How did you get this?" She finally asked as Auggie stopped the recording.

"Auggie got it. He put a bug in Liza Hearn's duffle bag."

"You did what?" How?"

"It was pretty simple actually…" Auggie began.

"We'll get into that later." Joan stopped him and turned to her husband and opened her mouth to speak.

"I already yelled at Auggie for it. Now we need to talk about how we're going to get him."

"Oh, we need to get him." Joan's neck was getting splotches of red on it from the heat and the anger building within her.

"You may not like this.." Auggie started.

"It involves Annie." Arthur finished for him.

* * *

Mr. Bingo was still at the counter and he wasn't Jai's concern. The voice in his ear startled him. "Where are you Jai?"

"A Starbucks, I think we're getting close." Jai responded quietly, not wanting to call attention to the fact that he was talking to himself. Jai continued to watch Mrs. Bingo; she was methodically removing napkins from the holder and folding them in front of her. Then she found what she was looking for. A small note folded carefully inside the napkin holder. "Very creative," Jai thought to himself. Mr. Bingo brought the drinks over to the table and looked at the note. With a nod, they both got up and headed out the door.

"They're on the move." Jai told Drew as he got up to follow them.

* * *

Liza sat in front of her laptop, fingers poised over the keyboard. In her career she almost never had writers block. For some reason today, she couldn't organize the thoughts in her head. Some were coherent, some were suspicious and some made her feel downright cynical. Journalists were supposed to be cynical, it's gives them the edge. It didn't feel good enough anymore. "Damn," she thought, what did Auggie do to her?

* * *

"Do you actually think this will work?" Joan asked Auggie and Arthur. "And do you think she's ready?"

"I think she is." Auggie answered. "She needs to keep busy and get back into the swing of things, and this might just work because it's all a set up. She doesn't need to know that it's not a real op. It might be better that way."

Joan looked at Arthur asking the question with her eyes, secretly happy that Auggie couldn't see their non-verbal communication, but he busted her again.

"I know what you're thinking." Auggie continued.

"You always do." Joan smiled.

"I think she can do this." Arthur finished the thought. "We just won't tell her that the biggest fake op of her career might be the most important, if she makes a rookie mistake all the better. Her inexperience will be too much for him to resist."

"Meanwhile, the really important op in Miami will be a great cover for this one." Auggie smiled as he said it. It really was a great idea.

* * *

Thanks for reading, I'll try to get part 3 up soon.


	3. Chapter 3

Note: Hot off the presses, part 3. Thanks for waiting...

* * *

"Do you still have them?" Drew asked Jai via the ear bud.

"Yeah, still following them, I'm not really sure where they're going but for a couple of seniors they can really move." Jai answered quietly so as not to call any attention to himself.

"See if you can get a picture of them, maybe we can get some ID."

"Easier said than done. Hang on…they're stopping." Jai answered, slowing his pace.

"Where?"

"A toy store."

"A what?"

"We need to get more eyes on this place."

" We're on it."

* * *

"Auggie…" Annie greeted him as he pulled open the glass doors of the DPD. "How's your day going?"

"Nice try.." He answered catching her elbow to let her lead. He knew she was trying to find out what he was doing in Arthur's office.

"I'm not… I wouldn't.." she stammered.

" I know. I'm just having a little fun with you." He gave her his million-dollar smile that usually meant he was hiding something.

"For a great field agent, you have a lousy poker face." Annie told him as they entered his office.

"Only with you." Auggie dropped her elbow and counted his steps to the chair and pulled it out. "Ask me about it later." He told her as he sat down and reached for his keyboard.

Detecting the serious tone in his voice Annie dropped the subject and leaned on the desk next to him. "So, I was thinking of taking Chloe to the zoo this weekend. Want to come?" She asked knowing the answer, but picking on Auggie was such fun and seeing his reaction always made her smile. She needed to smile.

"Hmmm, a third grader and a zoo… think I'll pass." He wrinkled his nose.

"What you mean you didn't have enough fun during the class trip? After all you are better than Ben Stiller." Annie goaded him.

"I did but…" Auggie was relieved; the sound of Joan's bracelet indicated that she was standing at the door to the office. She saved him from the conversation.

"Did you check into the walk in lead yet?" Joan asked.

"Not yet." Auggie answered, turning to his computer.

"Annie can I talk to you?" Joan asked motioning her out the door.

* * *

Mr. and Mrs. Bingo carefully looked at all the dolls in the boutique toy store like grandparents shopping for their granddaughter. They pulled one doll after another off the shelf discussing each one and consulting the piece of paper they got from the napkin holder at Starbucks. Posing as parents shopping, Drew and another female agent watched their every move. Finally Mrs. Bingo found what she was looking for and matched the doll to the note. Mr. Bingo nodded in approval and they took the doll from the shelf and headed to the cashier. Drew took a doll in a similar box and followed behind them.

* * *

"We might have something for you to look into." Joan began as she and Annie entered her office. "I don't think it's much of anything, but it might be just what you need to get your feet wet again.

"I'm ready." Annie said confidently.

"You sure, because I fully understand if you're not."

* * *

"You got everyone in place?" Auggie asked into his headset as he typed at his keyboard. "I know it's a strange request, but it's coming from the DCS." He smiled as he said it, it was fun to use Arthur's name to create his own op. " Just make it look as real as possible. Get someone at the airport too."

* * *

"Are you sure?" Jai was leaning on a newspaper stand watching the Bingos drink smoothies at the café across the street. They had the bag from the toy store sitting by their feet.

"Diamonds, the necklace, the earrings, the purse, the shoes, even the in the lining of the box. Probably a hundred grand, maybe more." Drew said on the other end of the line.

"So they buy the doll, with the diamonds and somehow get it to a fence."

"Looks like it. Not a bad retirement gig, huh?" Drew laughed.

* * *

"No I'm ready, I can do this." Annie continued to plead her case.

"Joan, Jai's on line three." Joan's assistant said from the doorway.

"Hang on, I need to take this." Joan said picking up the phone. "Jai, got anything?"

Annie heard Jai's muffled voice through the receiver, she couldn't understand what he was saying, but by Joan's face, it looked like good news.

"That's fantastic, we're finally getting somewhere. I'll tell Auggie. Get those photos to him right away." Joan hung up the phone with a smile on her face.

"Good news?" Annie asked.

"Yes, Jai finally got something in Miami. Would you do me a favor and let Auggie know that Jai's going to be sending him a photo for ID."

"Sure," Annie replied and headed out the door.

As soon as Annie was gone, Joan picked up the phone. "Jai's got something we can use, reel him in."

* * *

The anger was welling up inside Arthur as he looked out the window of his office. Usually the leaves swaying in the wind calmed him down, this time they did nothing for him. He needed to be at his best when he made the phone call. Part of him wanted to pick up the phone and start swearing at his predecessor. That would be so much fun and it would feel so damn good. He took a deep breath and dialed the phone, he couldn't let any emotion show in his voice.

"Henry, Arthur Campbell… hey, we need to read you in on something…we just got a break an operation that you worked on in 05. Can you stop down this afternoon? Great see you then."

Arthur hung up the phone. He did it. The trap was set.

* * *

Note: Thanks for reading. I will do my best to get another chapter up this weekend.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: Thanks for the constructive criticism. I really do appreciate it. I may have a reason (or an excuse) for my writing style. Despite my best intentions, its not as eloquent as other author's work. My first job out of college was in radio, writing news, PSAs and commercials. The style of writing required is quick and to the point in a conversational way. It may have ruined me forever.

Enough excuses: on with part four.

* * *

"You sure it's OK for me to leave." Stu asked Auggie as he was turning off his computer.

"Go. Have fun." Auggie replied turning his chair to face Stu.

"With Barber going home sick, I can skip it, really. As long as I make it to the reception, it's no big deal."

"I said go…" Auggie told him. He needed Stu gone to make his plan really work. "Just don't do anything stupid like catch the garter."

"That would be a pretty scary thought for both of us." Stu said grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair.

"No kidding." Auggie grinned as Stu left the office. Up until six months ago, the thought of catching the garter belt at a wedding reception scared the heck out of him. Now, with Annie in his life, it wasn't so scary. He couldn't think about that, not right now. He went over his plan in his head and thought about Annie's part in it all. Then it hit him, for it to truly work, he needed Annie to know what was happening. She was so fragile right now, even if she didn't know it. Being in danger, even pretend danger might cause her too much stress. He had to talk to Joan. Now. Getting up and grabbing his laser cane, he headed straight for Joan's office.

* * *

"Liza, you going to having anything tomorrow?" the news producer poked his head in her office.

Liza looked up from her computer not really sure how to the answer the question. The Liza Hearn from a few weeks ago would have been pitching the story that she was sure to get tonight from her source. "I think so. I just talked to my source, they said they should have something good for me tonight or tomorrow morning."

"Fantastic. I'll hold the spot for you."

"Thanks." Liza replied half heartedly, hoping he wouldn't hear the doubt in her voice.

* * *

"Joan, I don't think we can keep her in the dark." Auggie told his boss as he entered the office without knocking.

"Auggie, a knock would be nice."

"Yeah, OK" He continued without missing a beat. "I was going over the plan. I think we need to tell Annie all of it. It needs to be convincing, but I don't want to scare her. I don't think the time is right for that." The concern in his voice was showing. Joan set down her pen to listen to him.

"If we want to do this right and really get the bastard, we need to read her in on the full plan."

"But it won't be as authentic." Joan countered.

"It won't, but she's good. You know that, I know that, even Arthur knows that. The thing is, Henry doesn't know that. Besides if she really thinks they're going to kill her, she might just walk away. I don't think that's something any of us want." Auggie explained, the thought of Annie not with him at the DPD was something he just didn't want to think about.

Joan thought about Auggie's point for a moment and took a deep breath. He was right. She stood up and walked to the door while Auggie smiled, she had listened to him.

"Annie," she called into the bullpen. "Can you join us?"

Annie looked up from the German newspaper she was reading and headed toward her boss's office.

* * *

Jai watched the commotion at the café across the street with amusement. A few of their agents had just caused a scene spilling their lunch all over the Bingos. Potato chips, sandwich parts and iced coffee were everywhere. Everywhere that was, except the bag from the toy store that had just been switched back with the doll and the diamonds.

"Is it done.?" Drew asked Jai via the ear bud.

"Oh yeah, it's done." Jai laughed. "With a lot of style I might add."

"Great. Now we just have to follow the bunny trail back to the fence."

* * *

"Annie, remember that op I was telling you about earlier?" Joan asked, closing the door as Annie entered the office.

"Yeah."

"It's not a real op."

"It's not." Annie sank into the chair across from Joan. The disappointment was showing on her face and in her voice.

"It's still incredibly important." Auggie began.

" Oh?"

"We think we found the Liza Hearn leak." Joan continued as Annie's face brightened.

"Really?" Annie was intrigued. "Who?"

"We can't say right now." Auggie told her. "But we need to you to be on an op, while we work with the person we suspect is the leak. We need you to not follow protocol and make a few rookie mistakes we know you're past making to get this person leak that Arthur is incompetent and putting new agents in danger."

Annie was intrigued and flattered to be part of something so important to the agency. Especially after what happened in Sri Lanka. "Tell me what I need to do." She said leaning forward.

* * *

Arthur set the file down on his desk and headed toward the credenza to pour a cup of coffee secretly wishing that the carafe contained whiskey. Who would have thought that his 25-year CIA career would come down to this? He took as sip as his office door opened.

"Henry Wilcox is at the gate." His assistant Julie told him. " Would you like me to hold him?" She asked knowing Arthur's usual routine.

"No." Arthur said with a sigh. " Let the ornery old bastard in."

Julie looked surprised but nodded in understanding and closed the door behind her.

Arthur set down the coffee cup and gathered the file from his desk. "He won't know what hit him when I'm done with him." He thought to himself as he opened the door to head to the lobby to greet his visitor.

* * *

Auggie paused for a moment before he dialed the phone. He and Jai had actually begun to work together in the last few months. Despite it all, they worked well together. On some odd level that couldn't be defined, their friendship had been renewed. He still couldn't forgive him for some of the things that went down so many years ago, but he was past the hatred simply because of who Jai's father was. He hoped that Jai wouldn't hate him after all this went down.

"Got an ID for you" Auggie said into his headset, leaning back in his chair. " Bert and Joyce Sandberg. From North Miami. He's a retired electrician for the city and she was a housekeeper at the Westin on Miami Beach up until about two months ago. Her boss said that she just up and left after 20 years on the job. No explanation."

On the other end of the phone, Jai looked at the Bingos sitting six seats in front of him. "At least they have a name now."

"Where are you?" Auggie asked hearing gears shift in the background.

"Greyhound Bus on the way to Orlando." Jai said wryly.

Auggie couldn't contain his laughter. "A Greyhound Bus? Man, usually I'd trade places with you to be in the field, but today. Have fun buddy."

"Yeah, yeah.." Jai replied, "Get anything from the toy store?"

"Yep. Ali Habib bought it about 6 years ago from the original owners. They don't do much business, certainly not enough to pay the rent in that location."

"Figures."

"And I checked the manufacturer of those dolls. No invoices for that doll to that store in nearly 4 years." Auggie continued.

"So someone is buying those dolls and adding the diamonds and bringing them in."

"We're checking on who had bought large quantities of that doll. Nothing yet."

"Got anyone at the store yet?" Jai asked thinking the operation through.

"Uh huh, Mr. Habib was taken in on a homeland security warrant about an hour ago, one of our agents has replaced him at the store. He's not talking."

Auggie heard the sound of footsteps behind him. "Check in with you later." He told Jai disconnecting the line.

"So, how have you screwed this one up?"

The hair on Auggie's neck all stood on end. He would recognize the voice of Henry Wilcox anywhere.

* * *

Thanks for reading...


	5. Chapter 5

Note: I did my best to try to add more details. For me, it's harder than you might think. It's tough to teach an old dog new tricks.

* * *

Dressed in a conservative suit and her hair pulled up, looking like a business woman on an important trip, Annie remembered Auggie's instructions as she exited the International Terminal at Dulles Airport.

"When you exit the terminal, you'll see a Capitol Cab, they're red. Look for cab number 155, that's our guy holding the sign with your name today, Heather Murphy." He had said.

Annie spotted the cab, number 155 just like Auggie said. She walked over the cabbie and told him in her best English accent, "I'm Miss Murphy." The cabbie loaded her luggage in the back of the cab and she got in. "Please, to the Residence Inn in Chantilly." The cabbie nodded in understanding as he started the car.

* * *

"Now, Henry, that's quite the rude presumption. Don't you think?" Arthur told his predecessor as they entered Auggie's office.

"Rude, maybe, but accurate." Henry said looking down his nose at Arthur and he turned his gaze to Joan and then to Auggie. "Well…"

"We had a break in the money trail coming through Miami." Joan began to brief him. "About two months ago, we noticed more weapons getting into Central America."

"You mean you haven't been paying attention to this until two months ago?"

By the tone of Henry's voice, Auggie could tell that he was questioning Arthur's every move. This was going to be fun. "The guy sitting on Jose Redondo's place in Miami Beach noticed the same older couple coming and going every week like clock work." Auggie added.

"Big deal." Henry replied, "Redondo always had a parade of people coming and going."

"They weren't the usual star power, beautiful people wanna bees that Redondo surrounds himself with." Joan continued trying not to let Henry get to her. "Our guy began following them on a hunch."

"They were quite the consumers, new Cadillac, Projection TV's, all that from a couple of seniors living in a tract housing complex in North Miami." Auggie told them as his phone rang. " Hold on a sec….Annie is that you?" He asked switching gears.

"Yep, on my way to Chantilly."

Auggie had 'accidentally' left the speaker on his phone so Henry could hear.

"What's in Chantilly?" Henry asked.

"Auggie's working two ops right now." Joan explained quietly, trying not to interrupt Annie and Auggie's conversation. "Stu had a family emergency and Barber's on loan to the FBI this week." Poor Henry, she thought to herself, lying was part of CIA training and he couldn't even spot a simple one.

"We've been trying to get a break in the Miami case since 2005 and you pick this week to loan one of your tech guys to the FBI." Henry was taking the bait. "Arthur, I thought you were smarter than that."

* * *

Joyce and Bert Sandberg collected their things from their seats as the Greyhound Bus came to a stop in at the Orlando terminal. Jai hoped they weren't heading to Disney, if they were, he might just have to put himself out of his misery. But his luck was changing, a man in his late 30's met the Sandberg', they ran to him giving him a hug. If Jai didn't know better, he would think that they were visiting their son in Orlando. They had a hundred grand in their bag, so meeting their son wasn't reason for this trip. The three of them got into a silver minivan. Jai spotted Drew across the street in a red sedan and jogged over to get in.

* * *

With the speaker still on, Auggie continued his conversation with Annie. "Now, remember to request one of the suites at the back of the property. The guys the cabbie told us about are in number 127, so request number 128, it's right next-door. The hotel only has 25% occupancy today, so you shouldn't have a problem getting that one."

"What's going on?" Henry's interest was piqued.

Joan looked to Arthur as if to question whether or not to read Henry in on this one, knowing full well that this was part of the plan.

"Well?" Henry was getting impatient.

"We received a tip from a walk in this morning, a cab driver…an unusual number of Middle Eastern men coming into Dulles and going to a Residence Inn in Chantilly Virginia." Joan told him.

"The gardener is one of our guys. He has a master key for you. Don't use it until you're sure they're not in the room." Auggie continued with Annie, trying not to listen what was going on behind him.

"We really don't think there's anything to it, so we're having Annie check it out." Joan said looking at Henry and then Arthur as to get Arthur's approval.

"Call me when you get in the room." Auggie finished with Annie.

"Will do." Annie answered.

Auggie disconnected the line and swiveled his chair to the conversation behind him. "Sorry 'bout that."

"Do you really think that Walker is ready to be back in the field?" Henry couldn't resist another chance to dig at Arthur's judgment. "And do we really even need her anymore? Mercer is dead."

* * *

The silver minivan pulled into the parking lot of an antique store, the Sandberg's and their new friend got out and headed into the store with the toy store bag.

Jai and Drew slowed to a stop across the street from the antique store.

"Think this is it?" Drew asked turning off the ignition.

"If it's not, we're getting damn close." Jai said dialing his cell, "Keep an eye on them, I'm going to call this in."

* * *

Liza looked at her watch and then the clock on the wall. Somehow this was turning into one of the longest days ever. She was excited and apprehensive about the information he was going to share with her tonight. A ringing phone caused her to change her train of thought.

"Miss Hearn?" the female voice on the other end of the line inquired.

"Yes, this is Liza Hearn."

"This is Julie Donovan from Arthur Campbell's office."

Liza leaned back in her chair to stretch. This day might be getting better.

* * *

"Henry, we're still cleaning up your Ben Mercer mess, besides, that's not what we brought you in for.." Arthur scolded the former DCS. "Auggie, what else can we share with him."

"Back to Miami, so the couple we are following are Bert and Joyce Sandberg. He's retired from the city and she just up and left a housekeeping job at the Westin in Miami Beach a few months ago." Auggie turned back to his computer, reading the information on the screen with his Braille reader. " Jai picked them up in Palmetto Bay buying a doll from a boutique toy store."

"So…" Henry was always impatient with the details of operations, today was no exception.

"They bought a doll that had approximately one hundred grand in diamonds inside it." Auggie finished.

"We're trying to follow the doll back to the fence to see if we get to the source of Redondo's money." Joan explained.

"Well, do you have anyone in the store? Did you get the owner into custody yet? Have you checked the manifests from the store?" Henry rattled off all the things that needed to be done for this operation.

"Well…" Auggie started, trying his best to sound hesitant. He and Jai had just talked about all those things less than 15 minutes ago and it was well under control.

"Not yet Henry." Joan told him, "We're working on it." She patted Auggie on the shoulder to tell him to get to 'work' on Henry's suggestions.

"Arthur, you call this an operation?" Henry's eyes narrowed as he shot a look at Arthur. "If the DNI heard about this…"

"And I'm sure you'll find a way to tell him." Arthur answered, playing into Henry's game. "This information is just now going vertical. Give us a chance. What else do you know about Redondo's operation?"

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this part…thanks for reading.


	6. Chapter 6

Note: I've got to give credit to all who've written stories with ops in them. Considering the closest thing I've gotten to the CIA is what I've seen on TV, it's hard to come up with the stuff. Hope it's believable enough, the ops are kind of the guest stars of this one anyway.

* * *

The Capitol Cab pulled into the entryway of the Residence Inn Chantilly. The manicured lawn and rose bushes made it look like a luxury resort instead of an extended stay hotel. Annie paid the driver and got out of the cab. She collected her bag and calmly put on her English persona again.

"Hello." She greeted the front desk clerk.

The front desk clerk looked up from her computer screen looking like Annie had just interrupted from something very important. "May I help you?"

"I would like to check in please, Heather Murphy." Annie continued squeezing every bit of English accent out her voice. She noticed the girl's name tag, it read Deanna.

"Certainly, Miss Murphy."

" When I was pulling in with that most adorable cab driver I saw the nice building near the back, number 127, I believe, I was hoping you would be able to assign me there. I am working insane hours with the time difference and it seems so peaceful there."

Deanna checked her computer. "I'm sorry, but 127 is currently rented. I can get you into 128 right next door." She said as she clicked away at the mouse.

"That would be lovely." Annie smiled; part one of her mission was complete.

* * *

"We had a man in Redondo's operation." Henry offered looking around the office for a chair. Arthur and Joan glanced at each other and mentally decided not to help him find one. "He got close, but not close enough. His right hand man was a surly son of a bitch named Manny." Henry shot an evil look to an agent that had joined them in Auggie's office. There was about six or seven other people in the room besides Joan, Arthur, Auggie and himself. Did Arthur not know what secrecy was all about?

"Yeah, he got caught up in a drug raid in Miami Beach last year. Wouldn't flip on Redondo, he's doing a nickel upstate." Arthur already knew all about Manny, but it made Henry feel powerful.

The phone buzzed in and Auggie picked it up. "Yeah, Jai, we're here. What's the news?"

He said switching Jai to speakerphone.

"The Sandbergs picked up a friend at the Greyhound station and now they're in an antique store. Get me what you can on Somewhere in Time Antiques on Orange Avenue in Orlando." Jai told Auggie. "And I got a plate for you, 433 AUS, Florida, Silver Caravan."

"Hang on a sec, one thing at a time there, buddy." Auggie said deftly hitting keys on the keyboard. "OK Somewhere in Time, been in business since 2006, owner is Ray Smith.." Auggie continued to work at his keyboard. "Give me that plate again."

Jai repeated the plate number.

"And he's also the owner of the Caravan."

"That place got any connection to Redondo?" Henry interrupted the conversation.

On the other end of the line, Jai took a long breath in. Damn, his father was sticking his nose into his business. Again. "Not that we know of yet."

"Wait." Auggie had found something. "Ray Smith is Ramon Sanchez. Redondo's brother in law."

"Now we're finally getting somewhere." Henry said shooting a disapproving look toward Arthur.

* * *

Annie walked toward suite number 128, pulling her carryon behind her, looking every bit the part of an important business woman from Great Britain. She stopped next to the gardener tending to his roses.

"They are quite beautiful." She told him taking in the intoxicating fragrance.

"Thank you Ma'am." The gardener replied. "Would you like to take one for your room?" He asked cutting a rose from its bush.

"Very much. Thank you." Annie answered taking the rose and the magnetic passkey he palmed her. "Have a lovely day." She went up the sidewalk to Suite 128 and opened the door. Closing the door behind her, she gave a silent signal to the gardener. "Done" she thought to herself setting the rose on the dining room table. Now she just had to wait for Auggie's signal.

* * *

Auggie was getting tired of listening to Arthur and Henry bicker. He was doing his best to juggle a real op and a fake op at the same time. The plan depended on it. He just hoped that he didn't take on too much at the same time. The Redondo thing was getting a little too real right now and he still had to contact Annie.

"Jai," Arthur said from behind Auggie. "See if you can't stop them at the point of exchange. We need to get in front of this one."

"Are you nuts?" Henry questioned. "We need to make sure that he's feeding Redondo's operation."

"It's his brother in law, how much more do you need?" Arthur answered and turned his attention back to Jai "Get inside and let us know when you have something."

"On it." Jai answered.

"It's a mistake. A great big mistake."

"Then it's my mistake." Arthur leveled his gaze at the older man.

* * *

Annie looked at her Blackberry. Auggie had just sent her a text. Show time. She quickly dialed him back. "Hey Auggie.."

* * *

"Annie's calling in." Auggie said answering the phone. "Annie, are you in their room yet?"

"Not yet, they just left. I'm going to give them a few minutes, then check it out."

"Good luck and be careful." Auggie told her, this was the one time she really didn't need any luck or to be careful. "And call me in 5 minutes."

* * *

"Understood" Annie replied hanging up her phone and opening the door to her suite. She crossed the sidewalk to Suite 127, looking around cautiously she slid the magnetic key in the lock and opened the door.

* * *

"You expect him to work both operations?" Henry gestured toward Auggie. "He can't even …"

"Auggie is one of the best we have, and you know that Henry." Joan defended him.

"But he's blind for god sake."

"Henry!" Joan had just about enough of him.

It wasn't like Auggie needed another reason to hate Henry. He was one of the people who wanted to put him out to pasture after Iraq. "Guys, I am in the room." Auggie turned his head to them before going back to work at his computer. "Hang on, I'm getting something from Miami." He said reading his keyboard. " Seems Mr. Habib from the toy store started talking. He's got no ties to the Middle East. Redondo is giving him a cut of the diamond money."

"An equal opportunity money launderer." Joan thought out loud.

"Pretty much…." Auggie answered them as the phone rang again.

* * *

The antique store was filled with a menagerie of carnival glass, old toys and wooden furniture. The inventory along with the musty smell made for an overload of the senses. One thing seemed out of place, the six or seven new Mary Sunshine dolls that were lined up on shelf next to the player piano rolls. "Obviously, this has been going on for a while." Jai thought to himself as he stopped and picked up on the dolls from the shelf.

* * *

" Annie?" He asked switching to speakerphone.

"I'm in." Annie replied over the speaker. " There's something definitely going on here."

"What do you have?" Joan asked grasping the back of Auggie's chair for dramatic effect.

"A dozen or so diaper bags.." Annie said trying to make it sound like she was searching the room "And empty baby powder containers…."

"Annie, is there anything else? Something that might have come from a lab or any zip lock baggies."

"There's both… a box from Halcion Labs in Bethesda."

"Halcion Labs did some testing on a super flu bug back in the 90s." Henry added to the conversation.

Auggie smiled to himself. Henry was so predictable. "Annie, you need to get out of there now." He said into his headset, concern filling his voice.

"Oh no…" She answered quietly. "They're back!" And the line went dead.

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this part. I'll try to get more up before the weekend. Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Note: Sorry, I intended to get this part up last night. Better late than never.

* * *

Ray Smith turned away from the counter where he was working with Joyce and Bert Sandberg. This was the third time someone was in his store this week. Jose must be stepping up his operation or he was spending the money on another high priced girl from the clubs instead of his Maria. The inventory of Mary Sunshine's was getting overwhelming. He reached up on a shelf and took down an antique cookie jar. He opened it and looked inside, the money was all there. As he turned around to give the jar to the couple, he spotted Jai holding the doll.

"Here you go." Ray told the Sandbergs handing them the jar and trying not to look at Jai. "It will be just what you're daughter was looking for."

Joyce took the jar from Ray and smiled approvingly at her husband. They walked out the door passing Jai on his way to the counter.

"May I help you?" Ray asked Jai.

"Actually, I'd like what was in that cookie jar….or what was in a doll like this." Jai answered plunking the doll on the counter.

"I thought you'd never come…." Ray sighed with relief.

* * *

"Aren't you going to get someone into get Annie?" Henry asked, sounding as concerned as he could with his over inflated ego. He warned Arthur about sending her back into the field too soon.

"Annie…pick up…." Auggie said as he called her with the speakerphone still on.

Right on cue she picked up the phone. "I'm here…" she said breathlessly.

"Where are you?"

"In a closet, there's about 7 or 8 men, they sound Iranian, I can't make out what they're saying. They're filling the baby powder containers with some sort of salt like substance." She whispered for full effect.

"Stay put, we'll get you out of there."

* * *

Joyce and Bert Sandberg were ushered into the back of the black and white police car, while Jai leaned on the door jam of the antique store. Arthur made the right call. Mr. Smith didn't like his brother-in-law all that much and he didn't like that Redondo was having numerous affairs on his baby sister. He was only too happy to help them shut down Redondo's operation. Jai needed to call WITSEC to get the ball rolling.

Jai sighed, while he was growing up, he believed in his father and everything he did. Now, under Arthur's leadership he understood that the careful, thoughtful maneuvering was much more important than a black op.

"Hey Auggie…" Jai said calling into the DPD.

* * *

"Jai, are you under control there?" Auggie sounded rushed.

Jai wondered what was going on, "Yeah, got Smith to talk. He wants nothing to do with his brother-in-law and he doesn't want Maria, his sister to have anything to do with him either. My next call is to WITSEC and I'll get a couple of marshals out here to pick him up. From what he's told me, we should have enough on Redondo's operation to shut it down within a week."

"That's fantastic." Joan said smiling. They had gotten lucky; Jai had everything under control there. Now they needed to finish the other part of the plan.

"Hey, gotta go." Auggie disconnected the line and switched back to Annie.

"Annie, you still there."

"Yes" She whispered into the phone. "Hang on…."

The sound of a door opening and men talking loudly filled Auggie's office. "Auggie!" Annie screamed into the phone as the line went dead again.

Auggie frantically dialed the phone again, but she didn't pick up. Then he dialed another line.

"Joe isn't picking up either." Auggie sighed.

"He's our gardener." Joan explained to Arthur.

"This is not good.." Arthur thought out loud.

"Not good?" Henry was dumbfounded by Arthur's oversimplification of the situation. "You probably just got one of your agents killed."

"Henry, Redondo is done. We don't need your input anymore." Arthur told him opening the door to Auggie's office. Arthur turned to the group of agents that had been standing in the back of the office observing the operations. He singled one out, "Jack, would you please make sure Mr. Wilcox finds the exit?"

Jack looked up surprised, he really didn't want to be the one escorting Henry out of the building.

"You asked me here."

"And now I'm asking you to not be here. We have more important things to do besides listen to you question my judgment. Good bye Henry."

Henry shot an evil look at Joan and then Arthur before storming out of the office with Jack close behind him. He wasn't done with them.

"I thought he'd never leave." Auggie said while continuing to work at his computer.

* * *

" Mr. Campbell was hoping you might have some time for him first thing tomorrow morning."

Maybe Henry was right about Arthur, Liza thought before answering, maybe he is just an incompetent politician in the wrong job. "Is this to refute another story? If so, tell him thanks, but no thanks."

"Mr. Campbell thought you might say that, he asked that you come and see him and then draw your own conclusion."

'That's awful vague." Liza was both disgusted and intrigued with the thought of Arthur wanting to meet with her again.

"We're the CIA, Miss Hearn. Vague is what we do." Julie replied sweetly. "Shall we expect you at 8 am tomorrow?"

Liza took a deep breath; there was no way she could not go to this meeting. "Yes, tell Arthur I'll be there."

* * *

"Auggie, get Perkins and Nelson back to the hotel." Joan told Auggie.

Auggie nodded in understanding and dialed the phone.

"He has this under control." Joan told the audience of agents that had been observing the operation from the back of the office. "Let's give him some peace while he takes care of Annie." She said ushering them out of the office. Soon just Auggie, Arthur and Joan were remaining.

The whoosh of the sliding door told Auggie that the other agents had left the office.

"We're alone." Joan told him.

Auggie took off his headphones and turned to his boss and the DCS. "We did it."

"We did, didn't we?" Joan said, Auggie could practically hear the smile in her voice.

"Excellent job, Auggie." Arthur patted Auggie on the shoulder.

"Now we only have to hope he took the bait." Auggie surmised.

"Oh, he did." Arthur answered smiling, "He's already on the phone to Liza."

* * *

The peace and quiet of the back seat of his town car did nothing to quell the rage building inside Henry. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. Arthur had made mistake after mistake, on two different operations. And he loaned a tech op to the FBI leaving that cripple in charge of those important operations including Jai's. He reached for his cell phone and began to dial, and then he looked down in surprise. In his anger, he had almost used his own phone to call Liza instead of his burn phone. He grabbed the burn phone from the pocket behind the passenger seat.

"We have to meet. Now." He growled into the phone. "Same place."

* * *

Hope you enjoyed this part. Thanks for reading.

-M


	8. Chapter 8

"Call Annie and tell her it's done." Joan instructed Auggie. "And call Jai, tell him I need to talk to him before he gets on the plane tonight. I don't want him to get caught off guard on this one."

"Will do." Auggie answered, Jai deserved to know what had just happened.

Joan gave his shoulder a squeeze, their non-verbal communication for a job well done. Auggie reached up and grabbed her hand, returning the squeeze before dialing Annie's cell. "Good job." Joan whispered to him before turning on her heel to go back to her office with Arthur.

"Ollie, Ollie Oxen Free." Auggie said playfully as Annie answered the phone.

"It's done?"

"Oh, it's more than done." Auggie leaned back in his chair, relaxed for the first time since he opened the recording on his computer that morning. "You have to lay low tonight, some people here still think you're in danger."

"But my big, strong Auggie is going to save me. Again." Annie was enjoying his playful mood, it seemed like old times, before Sri Lanka.

"So that's what I am?"

"Yep." Annie answered. "So Allen's is out of the question tonight and I don't want to go home."

"I have beer." Auggie suggested.

"I can get a pizza."

"See you at my place then."

"You'd better have more than one beer in that fridge of yours."

"Have you ever known me to not be prepared?" Auggie laughed at the thought of only one beer in his fridge. That would never happen.

* * *

"The Sandbergs are playing the Alzheimer's card." Drew told Jai as he joined him leaning on the hood of the red sedan.

"Not surprising. Think anyone will buy it with an antique cookie jar with eighty grand inside in their possession." Jai looked out over the busy Orlando street. His mind was elsewhere.

"The nice man gave them the jar, they didn't know what was inside." Drew's voice was dripping in sarcasm.

"At least they know where they'll be spending their golden years." Jai answered as his phone rang. "Hey Auggie, what's going on there?"

"Can't really go into it now." Auggie told him from the other end of the line. "But Joan wants to talk to you before you head back this way."

"Really?"

"You need to talk to her." Auggie told him. "It's important."

* * *

"Did you make the call?" Arthur asked his assistant as he returned to the executive office suite.

Julie looked up from her computer. "Yes, she'll be here at 8 a.m."

"Was she skeptical or surprised that I wanted to meet?"

"A little of both."

"Good, I wouldn't expect anything less from her." Arthur said taking a deep breath. Tomorrow morning was a long way away.

* * *

Joan sat at her desk, mindlessly shuffling through the paperwork that had accumulated in just one afternoon. She wasn't looking forward to the conversation she was going to have.

"Jai on line four." Her assistant buzzed in on the intercom.

"Hello Jai" Joan said picking up the line.

"Auggie said you needed to talk to me." Jai sounded both curious and concerned.

"Jai, something happened this afternoon." Joan had no idea where to start.

"OK…."

" We discovered who was behind the leak."

"Fantastic." Jai was happy that the leak was finally contained and they could get back to their real jobs.

"You may not think so when I tell you who it is."

* * *

The gray town car pulled away from the curb leaving Liza sitting on the brick fence wall, the darkness in the Washington DC Park was enveloping her every being. Henry had just shared an incredible amount of information with her. Information that could get Arthur Campbell fired, Joan Campbell fired and maybe even Auggie fired. The fallout from this could be huge, and everyone from Larry King to the New York Times would interview her. Arthur jeopardized an important operation with known gunrunners in Florida and they probably lost an agent in Chantilly, Virginia tonight too. It was almost too much to take in. She wondered why Arthur wanted to meet with her in the morning. It was probably to give her his version of the story. At this point, she didn't know whom to believe anymore.

* * *

The gate area of Miami Dade International Airport was spinning around Jai. He asked her to repeat herself. He couldn't have heard that correctly, or had he?

"It was your father." Joan told him on the other end of the line. " We have a recording of him talking to Liza Hearn, leaking classified information among other things. We also planted a false flag with him this afternoon. We're pretty sure he will leak that to Liza as well."

Now Jai understood what was going on when he talked to Auggie earlier. "How? Why?" He stammered.

"You'll probably want to ask him why, but I would appreciate it if you wouldn't say anything to him, not yet anyway. I know he's your father, but I gave up trying to understand him years ago."

Jai looked absent-mindedly at two children playing chase around a line of chairs. "Honestly, so did I. When is it going to break?"

"Tomorrow, I imagine." Joan wanted to be anywhere but here, telling a good man that his father was truly evil. "You don't need to come in if you don't want to. Just be sure and call me if you're not."

"Thanks. I'll think about it." Jai said pressing end on this cell. He wanted to be surprised about this revelation. But he couldn't. He wanted to scream. But he couldn't. He wanted to shake his father by his shoulders and ask him why he would ruin his own career and reputation like this. But he couldn't. All he could do was sink into a chair and wait for his flight to be called.

* * *

Arthur sat in the silence of his office, watching the darkness of the night press across the sky. Who would have thought when he got up this morning that the day would end like this. He turned his encrypted cell phone over and over in his hand before dialing a telephone number that he knew by heart but never wanted to use.

"Steve, this is Arthur Campbell. I need to meet with you tonight." He paused for the response. " I know, it's late, but I think you'll want to hear what I have to say. We've found the leak and it may well shock the hell out of you. But then again, it may not."

* * *

"I smell pizza." Auggie exclaimed as he slid open the door to his apartment.

"You know it." Annie swooped in the door with an extra large size pizza box. "Pepperoni and mushroom, your favorite."

Auggie closed the door behind her as she set the box on the coffee table. "The Yin and Yang of pizza. Pepperoni for the bad and mushrooms for the good. Gotta have balance."

"And what's the beer?" Annie asked grabbing two plates from the shelf in the kitchen and setting them on the coffee table before plunking herself on the floor.

Auggie was already busy digging in the refrigerator, "A necessity." He answered while slowly making his way to Annie. He handed her a beer and sat down cross-legged next to her.

"I most certainly agree on that one." She took a drink of the cold amber liquid.

Auggie lifted his bottle to her. "To a job well done." They clinked bottles. "You are an excellent actress Miss Walker."

"Learned from the best." Annie said smiling and taking a bit of the pizza.

* * *

The warmth of the shower did nothing to relive the stress in her back and neck. It had been a long day. Tomorrow would be a longer day. Joan wrapped herself in a fuzzy terry cloth robe and walked out of the bathroom to find her husband sitting on the edge of the bed. He was stopped in mid motion of taking off his shoe.

"Penny for your thoughts…" She said crawling across the bed to his side.

"Hmmmmm.." Arthur finished taking off his shoe. "Sorry, just lost in thought."

"Did you talk to Steve?"

"Uh huh. He's briefing the president. I think they want to see how Henry spins the days events to Liza before making a decision about any charges."

"Do you think they'll actually charge him with treason?" She asked rubbing his shoulders; he was just as tense as she was.

"I don't know, maybe. Hard to say." Arthur was enjoying her touch.

"Tomorrow is another day." Joan was sensing that he didn't want to talk about it, and that was OK. She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck, softly kissing him.

"It is…" Arthur mumbled inhaling a deep breath.

* * *

"Do you think Jai knows?" Annie asked as she tossed a crust into the box of half eaten pizza.

"Joan asked me to have him call her." Auggie answered. "I don't think that was a pleasant conversation for either of them."

"Lord knows my dad isn't perfect, but can you imagine?"

"I couldn't imagine having Henry Wilcox as a father. It's a miracle that Jai isn't even more screwed up."

"Come on he's not that bad." Annie slapped him on the chest with the back of her hand.

"He's not." Auggie looked serious. "And despite it all, Jai didn't deserve this."

* * *

Thanks again for reading.

-M


	9. Chapter 9

Note: This story turned out to be quite a bit longer than I originally anticipated. Thanks to all who have hung in there and kept reading, I hope you've enjoyed reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. If my master plan works, this should be the second to last installment of the story.

* * *

The soft morning light filtered through the window waking Jai from a restless night of sleep. If you could call it that. He turned on his side to face the alarm clock; it read 5:30 am. Jai wondered if he pulled the covers over his head would the day just go away.

* * *

"Arthur…" Liza swept into the executive office with an aura of self-confidence.

"Liza," Arthur stood up from his desk and met her at the conference table. "So nice of you to come in."

"If you call being summoned nice." Liza sat at the table and was joined by Arthur. "Why am I here?" She had waited nearly 12 hours to ask that question.

"Did your source give you some interesting information last night?" Arthur wanted to play a few games before they got down to business.

"If you asked me here to refute the story I'm going to go with this afternoon, this was a waste of both of our time." Liza stood up and turned to leave, she wasn't in the mood for games.

"Liza, sit down." Arthur decided that games were not appropriate here. "I need to tell you what really happened."

* * *

"Hi Stu, how was the wedding?" Auggie asked when he heard the familiar footsteps of his co-worker.

"Excellent." Stu grinned from ear to ear and handed Auggie the present that he'd been saving for him.

Auggie took the item that Stu had just given him and figured out what it was. He smiled. "You didn't."

" I did." Stu answered. " I caught it just for you."

Auggie let out a healthy laugh and pulled the baby blue garter belt over his sleeve and up onto his arm. "Thanks pal. I might need this some day."

"Something you want to tell me?" Annie spied the garter belt as she entered the office with a cup of coffee for Auggie.

"Nope." Auggie smelled the coffee and held out his hand for the cup.

"Nice garter." She said winking at Stu. "Is she here yet?" She asked turning her attention to Auggie.

"Talked to the gate, she got here about 15 minutes ago." Auggie answered, sliding the garter off his arm.

"What did I miss?" Stu asked, there was about a fifty-fifty chance he would get a straight answer.

"The proverbial shit will most likely hit the fan this morning." Auggie said mysteriously.

* * *

"Liza, I know who your source is." Arthur told her as she lowered herself back into the chair.

"You do?" How could he have figured it out, they were so careful?

"Yes, I do. And how I found out is unimportant. I would like to be your official source on this one." Arthur said evenly. "Let me guess what you were told."

"How could you know?"

"Because I know the person who gave you the information. Only too well. He told you that I loaned a technical operations agent to the FBI leaving us short staffed when we had two very important operations in play."

"Yes…"

"I didn't loan an agent to the FBI and I didn't jeopardize any operations."

"What else."

"We stopped a major gun runner in south Florida. One that we've been trying to shut down for well over five years. Despite what you were told, it was a textbook operation and we should be able to take out the supply line all the way to the gorillas in Central America."

"And…"

"And we did not loose an agent in Virginia. She is fine and there was no biological threat to the people."

"But they captured her." Liza spilled a few of her beans.

Arthur tried to contain his smile; years of CIA training came down to a poker face with a reporter. Henry has bought their false flag, hook, line and sinker. "No they didn't, because the terrorists weren't real, the agent was never in any danger. No part of that operation was real." Arthur waited for her expression to change.

* * *

Jai walked through the marble lined hallway of the CIA toward the DPD office. No one looked at him any differently; maybe this thing would blow over. Could he even hope? He opened the glass doors of the DPD and walked toward his desk.

* * *

"Jai's here." Annie told Auggie quietly.

"Call him in."

Annie walked out of the office and went over to Jai. "Can Auggie and I talk to you?" She asked him with concern in her voice.

Jai quietly followed Annie to Auggie's office.

"Stu, can we have a minute?" Auggie turned Stu's direction.

"Sure." Stu answered as he got up and closed the office door behind him.

"You doing OK?" Auggie asked Jai once the door was closed.

"Yeah, I guess" Jai leaned on Auggie's desk. "What can I say?"

"Nothing I suppose." Auggie answered him. "I was really hoping things wouldn't happen like this."

"Me too."

"We're here for you." Annie touched Jai's forearm and he reached to hold her hand.

"I know." He answered looking at his friends. "Suppose it would come down to this, Satan's Little Helper gets what's coming to him."

"You are your own man." Annie's voice could make anyone feel better. "This is not a reflection on you."

"I know." Jai said looking out into the bullpen. "I just hope the rest of them feel the same way."

* * *

"So it was a set up?" Liza didn't know if she should be surprised, she was dealing with the CIA after all.

"From the walk-in tip to the bad guys capturing her, yes. We wanted to see how he would spin the story to you."

"Spin…" Liza was lost in thought of what she had just heard.

"He's been spinning things to you this whole time. With half-truths and an ulterior motive. To get me out of here and get his old job back." Arthur leaned forward in his chair, his eyes meeting hers. "In a perfect world, the CIA is more open and transparent. But we don't live in a perfect world. There are bad guys trying to get us. I just have a different approach to getting the bad guys than Henry Wilcox."

* * *

Steve Baylor closed the door to the Oval Office. He had just briefed the President of the United States about a treasonous act that one of his top people has perpetrated. Since the day he took the office of the Director of National Intelligence, he knew that Henry Wilcox was a loose cannon, but he was effective even if he did have a taste for black ops. The man had his ear and he had listened to him. He was certain about one thing; eating crow with the President of the United States was no fun.

"Call a press conference for 4 p.m." He told his assistant as they walked down the hallway.

* * *

"Have you talked to your father?" Annie asked Jai.

"No, Joan requested that I don't call him until it comes out." Jai answered. How he wished he had a normal relationship with his father. "The son in me wants to warn him, but the agent in me knows I can't. He always said that this place comes before anything else, even family."

"It shouldn't." Auggie told him, he had given up so much of himself for the CIA too.

"But in his world it always has. Funny how his own philosophy is going to bite him in the ass." Jai tried to force a smile.

* * *

"I don't want to tell you what to report." Arthur continued. "You're a very smart woman, part of me wishes you worked for us."

"You do?" The man sitting across from her could still surprise Liza.

"Take what I've told you and compare it to what he told you. Perhaps I'm spinning it too, but I can tell you, that from a man who lies for a living, what I have told you today is 100% the truth. I can also tell you that the President will be briefed on the situation if he has not already been." For the first time in a while, honesty was the best policy.

"Thank you Arthur." Liza stood up and extended her hand to the DCS. "I'll be in touch."

* * *

Waiting for the phone to ring was agonizing. Joan stared at it hoping one of the lights would illuminate signaling a call from her husband. She saw Jai enter the bullpen earlier and then disappear into Auggie's office. She knew this day was going to be hard on him and there was a real possibility she was going to loose one of her best agents because of this. Phone, ring, now, she commanded. As if on cue, it rang.

* * *

"You want to hide out in here today?" Auggie asked Jai, "I could always bump Stu out of his chair."

"That's a hell of an offer." Jai was surprised at Auggie's genuine kindness. "But I'm just going to take the high road."

"You're a better man than I would be."

"Yeah, think so?" Jai slid open the door. "Check with me in a few hours. I might want to hide out at Allen's with you."

After Jai left the office Annie turned to Auggie. "Do you think he's going to be all right?"

"Actually, I do." Auggie answered. "He's a much better person than I gave him credit."

"Told ya." Annie gave him a swat on the back before heading out into the bullpen to her desk, leaving Auggie with a smile on his face.

* * *

"Did she show?" Joan asked her husband; the last hour was agonizing waiting to hear what happened.

"Did you expect her to skip it?" Arthur teased a little. "She knows both sides of the story, and she's probably wrestling with her conscience right now."

"She's a reporter, she has no conscience."

Arthur thought for a moment about his conversation with Liza. "I think she might be the exception to the rule. And I certainly wouldn't underestimate her."

* * *

The parking lot of the newspaper was teeming with activity. Liza was oblivious to all the commotion. Replaying the events of the last 24 hours in her head, she weighed both sides of the story. She had trusted Henry for so long. She had faith in his version of what was going on inside the CIA. She had believed that Arthur was going about things the wrong way. Trust and faith, a very smart CIA technical operative gave her some words of wisdom about that not too long ago. She grabbed her laptop and got out of the car knowing exactly what she was going to say when she got to her new editor's office.

* * *

Arthur saw the light on the screen of this encrypted phone light up, signaling an incoming call, he looked down at it and saw the number.

"Joan, I have to take another call. I'll stop down when I'm done." He said while simultaneously hanging up the office phone and answering the cell.

"Yeah, Steve. No, I understand. You sure you want me to give her an exclusive?" He asked waiting for the answer on the other end of the line. "If that's what you want to do, I will do it. When is it going to be announced?" He waited again. "I'll call her right away."

Arthur stood up taking long steps to the door of his office. "Julie, get Liza Hearn on the phone for me"

* * *

Thanks for reading. Watch for the final chapter soon.

-M


	10. Chapter 10

Note: Here is the final part of the story. Thank you for being so patient, when I started this story I had a rough idea where I was going and some parts took a little longer than others. This is my first fan fiction in over 8 years, I'm still a little rusty, but this helped shake the rust off. Thanks to everyone for their reviews and story alerts. I was excited to see over 20 story alerts on my first swing at this.

In all it's "glory." I hope you enjoy...

* * *

"You're the busy little beaver over there." Annie told Jai as they were sitting across their desks in the bullpen.

"Just wrapping up the file on Redondo." Jai didn't look up.

"That was a great job down there."

"The usual; a little luck, a little skill and a little help from Auggie."

"I'm thinking skill." Annie replied, for once Jai might need a little boost in his self-confidence.

Jai finally looked up at his friend, she was smiling at him. "Thanks Annie."

* * *

"Why are you doing this Arthur?" Liza was sitting in at her desk trying to organize her notes.

"Because, I trust you to do the right thing." He replied on the other end of the phone.

"Since when do you trust a reporter?"

She was right, since when did he trust a reporter. Now would be a good time to start. "Ball's in your court Liza." Arthur said hanging up the phone.

Liza stared at the phone listening to the dial tone for a moment. She had just gotten an exclusive on possibly the biggest story to come out in a long time. It could be the biggest story of her career.

* * *

Annie looked up from her desk and spotted Arthur walking into Joan's office and close the door. It was happening, it was really happening. She glanced at Jai, not wanting to trade places with him.

* * *

"Steve's is having a press conference at 4 p.m. today." Arthur told his wife while sitting on the small sofa in her office.

"They're going to do it?"

"Treason, yes. And he had me give Liza Hearn a heads up."

"So we have about, what, two hours before it hits?"

Arthur glanced at the clock on the wall. "About that."

"We should warn Jai." She said looking out into the bullpen at the son of the man who was going to be charged with possibly the worst crime against the government.

"Do it." Arthur said, standing up to wait for Jai.

Joan got up from her desk and opened the door. "Jai, can we see you?"

* * *

Annie made a beeline for Auggie's office as soon as Jai walked into Joan's office.

"They called Jai in." She said quietly while leaning on the edge of his desk.

"How did it look?" Auggie asked, turning away from his keyboard.

"Serious. I feel so sorry for Jai, the world as he knew it just came to a halt."

* * *

"You can sit down Jai." Arthur motioned to the sofa and Jai sat cautiously on the edge of the cushions.

"We need to tell you what's going to happen next." Joan joined Jai on the sofa while Arthur sat in one of the chairs across from her desk. "Steve Baylor and the President met this morning. They've decided to charge your father with treason."

Jai thought his world was done spinning, but he felt like it was spiraling out of control. But he looked at Joan and then Arthur. "OK…." Was all he could get to come out of his mouth.

"Steve and I talked about you today as well." Arthur began. "What your father has done has no bearing on your place in the agency. You are an asset to the agency, we both agree on that."

Jai took it all in, in the middle of a conversation with the Director of National Intelligence about treason charges against his father, Arthur Campbell had made a point to discuss his future. "Thank you." Two words came out this time, he was improving.

"This information is going to go vertical pretty fast this afternoon." Joan explained. "Liza Hearn has it and she's running a story in the afternoon edition. Steve is holding a press conference at 4 pm today."

"If I were you, I'd lay low for the rest of the day." Arthur said, "The press is going to try to get information out of you."

"But I don't know anything. Only what you've told me."

"That's all you need to know." Arthur stood up and looked out the window. "Jai, I'm not going to lie to you, it's going to be pretty rough for a while. But you will get through it, we all will."

"I appreciate the heads up." Jai stood up and Joan squeezed his hand. " I think I will take your advice and lay low."

* * *

Liza's news editor was leaning over her shoulder as her fingers hit the keys on the laptop. She could feel his breath on her ear as he read the story that was unfolding in front of him.

"Is this right?" He asked. "You've got it verified?"

"Verified and straight from Arthur Campbell."

"I thought you didn't agree with his tactics."

"Let's say my original source had other motives." Liza said hitting print on the computer program. "Here you go. Hot off the presses."

"This is great stuff. You'd better get over to TNN for the interview."

* * *

"Hey guys." Jai poked his head into Auggie's office "Can I take you up on the hiding out offer now? Allen's?"

"Absolutely." Annie replied. "We can leave now, can't we Auggie." She said pushing Auggie's shoulder.

* * *

Julie Donovan accepted the package from the messenger, she was secretly happy that the damn package had finally arrived. Now she could do her work without her boss asking if it was here every five minutes. She went to his door and knocked three times. Three knocks meant that she had something that Arthur wanted.

"Come in Julie." He responded as she opened the door. "Finally." He took the package from her and went to his desk where Joan was waiting.

"Thank you Julie." Joan smiled at Julie, knowing that Arthur wouldn't think to thank her. Julie closed the door as Arthur ripped open the package.

He and Joan looked down at the advance copy of the afternoon edition of the Washington Recorder. Liza Hearn's story was front page above the fold. The headline read: "Retired Senior CIA Officer to be Charged with Treason"

* * *

"Now coming to us from our Washington DC studio, we have Liza Hearn of the Washington Recorder with up to the minute details on the news coming out of the Director of National Intelligence Office." The TNN reporter began the introduction to the next story. "Liza, what can you tell us about this surprising news?"

"Well Troy, this story just came together in the last 24 hours." Liza was enjoying her moment in the limelight. "A series of events occurred that brought to light that my source of information at the CIA was actually acting for his own benefit. Henry Wilcox made many attempts to sabotage the work of the current Director of Clandestine Services, Arthur Campbell….."

* * *

The report continued on TNN with Liza Hearn as Jai, Auggie and Annie gathered around the television in the bar area of Allen's Tavern.

"Wow…" Annie gasped as she heard the words actually come from the television.

"That could be an understatement." Auggie said as he took another drink of beer.

Jai sat at the bar, looking into his bottle of beer, he wasn't sure if he should look up at the television, if he did it might all be real. "Somehow I always knew he'd flame out like this, I'm just grateful he didn't take anyone else with him."

The bartender realized who was sitting in front of him, he motioned to the television where a picture of Henry Wilcox was displayed with treason written across the bottom of it. "Hey, Jai isn't that your….." Annie and Auggie quickly waved him off.

"So much for hiding out." Jai looked at the television, his world was officially upside down.

* * *

"That bitch!" Henry threw the remote control down on the leather ottoman. "After all I did for her she betrayed me like this! If she was playing me the whole time….."

He went to his office and grabbed his wallet out of the drawer of his desk, snatching his briefcase he headed toward the front door. "Arthur had something to do with this, I underestimated that son of a bitch….." Henry opened the door to find three U.S. Marshals standing in front of him.

"Mr. Wilcox." The lead marshal stopped him in his tracks. "The President would like to have a word with you."

Henry looked down his nose at the marshals, struggling in their grasp. "He would now, would he? I want to talk to Steve Baylor." Steve always believed everything he had to say. He would fix this.

"Mr. Baylor is the one who asked us to bring you in." The marshal answered, leading Henry to the waiting car.

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, Steve Baylor, the Director of National Intelligence has an announcement to make."

Steve Baylor took stood behind the podium, the lights of news cameras and still photography flashes in his eyes. "Late yesterday, a situation regarding a leak within the Central Intelligence Agency was brought to my attention. Several of our agents through diligent work discovered the source of the leak and confirmed it by placing false information in possession of the individual. This individual in turn leaked the information to Liza Hearn of the Washington Recorder. Former Director of Clandestine Services, Henry Wilcox was found to be the source of the leak. On direction of the President of the United States, Mr. Wilcox will be charged with the crime of treason. Mr. Wilcox is currently in the custody of the U.S. Marshall Service and the President will work with Congress to assure a speedy trial."

The room of reporters was abuzz with questions. One was louder that the others.

"Will Liza Hearn be charged with treason as well?"

"No, Miss Hearn fully cooperated with the CIA and we do not expect to see any charges forthcoming." Steve responded.

* * *

"Can you just turn that thing off?' Jai asked the bartender. The bartender obliged and turned off the television. "And get me another beer."

"This has nothing to do with you Jai." Annie tried to comfort her friend.

"I know…." Jai sighed. "On second thought, I need to get out of here."

"Jai…." Auggie started.

"I'll be OK." Jai told them. " I need to just be alone for a while. I'm gonna take a walk. Thanks for helping me hide out." He gave Annie a quick hug and patted Auggie on the back before walking out into the fading light of the day.

"Does he know our part in this?" Annie asked Auggie after Jai was out the door.

"Nope." Auggie said taking a drink of beer. "And I think we'd better not tell him right now. He's had enough betrayal to last a while."

* * *

Joan turned off the television that was playing Steve Baylor's press conference and turned to her husband. "It's over. It's finally over." She said swooping in to give Arthur a hug, a rare sign of affection while at work.

Arthur took his wife into his arms to return the hug and savoring the moment of victory over his rival. It was fleeting. "I hope it is. But when Henry Wilcox is involved, is it ever really over?"

* * *

The end

* * *

More Notes:

I was going to end this one all wrapped up with a pretty little bow. But after much internal debate, I decided to leave the door open a bit for a follow up story. I think there may be some story left in this one, but I'm not entirely sure. We'll see how fast the little hamster moves in the wheel of my mind.

My goal is to make my stories seem like an episode of the show. I hope at the end you felt like you just enjoyed a great episode and you want to tune in next week to see what will happen.

Thanks for reading and reviews are always appreciated.

-M


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